Entry #9: Nothing Much

Nothing new has really happened in the past week that i updated this. I'm still trying to find wood on my free time and my mentor has been missing in action for the past few days. I took a break from my projects for a bit because i was getting a weird bump on my finger and i don't know if that's normal or not. Also, I stopped because the knife i bought broke so there's a waste of like $5. It was a knife you use to cut fruit and i found it pretty good. I found it pretty good up until the point it broke at least. Although, i'm still surprised that i haven't cut myself even when my knife broke so at least i have that going for me. Otherwise, everything else in the project has been stagnant and i'm unhappy about that. Tomorrow i'm going to start looking at replacement knives and possibly a place where i can get some good wood pieces. 

• Website Title: Flickr
• Article Title: Broken Knife
• Publisher: Yahoo!
• Date Accessed: March 25, 2014

Entry #8: Nothin'

What's up? Nothing much really, i have just been working on a mini project ( A spoon ) and trying to find a good enough piece of wood for the final product. Still haven't started on it, but i have a idea of what i'm going to do. Since i can't bring an entire totem pole to school, i decided just to make the face of one and hopefully it'll turn out well. Over the past few days, the one thing that has kept me motivated is the fact that when i feel sad, mad or anything negative i have that one thing that'll let me project it onto. I found it really relaxing to just put it all out on an object. Although i would really like to start on my final product, it has been a tough time finding a good wood piece even though you could just go to Orchard Supplies but it has to be easy enough to cut through.


(The piece of wood that i don't have)

Amber, Undeclared. "Log of Chopped Wood." Flickr. Yahoo!, 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Entry #7: The Update

I'm making progress with whittling and learning more about turning negative emotions into something positive.

I will not be mentioning a whole lot of resources because i didn't use a lot. My main confidence in my update is the fact that i'm progressing in my 20% project and slowly becoming better and better at whittling. Looking back at my past projects, they weren't all that great but now you can clearly see an improvement. The concern in my update is whether or not i am able speak clearly without messing up or getting nervous. Even though i can sort of talk in front of people, when i'm put on the spot, in front of everyone, it's really easy for me to get nervous. Another concern for my update, regarding whittling, is if i can actually find a wood good enough size to turn into a somewhat decent totem pole. My mentor has been trying to find a good size but he's busy with work and can't really dedicate a whole lot of time into it.

Entry #6: Extra Help

http://www.instructables.com/id/Wood-Whittling-101/

While looking for projects to start doing or future projects to start, I stumbled upon this website and started to browse it. While looking into it i found a lot of projects that came with instructions. It pretty much acts as an instruction manual and idea giver for me. Looking deeper into the website, i found ideas that help make my projects better and more creative.

http://whiteeaglestudios.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/the-truth-about-whittling-knives/

In my pursuit to finding the perfect knife for me to use, i found this article about what knives i should use and knives that are perfect for whittling. Using this guide , i was able to find a good knife to use and it provided me a good sense of how i should pick certain knives in the future. Of course, the knife i have now isn't very comfortable but it sure gets the job done and in the end that's all i want to do is get a knife that does its job.

Entry #5: The Challenge

Seriously, the only one problem that i am having at the moment is the knife that i am using, a dull box cutter. I found out about this when i made a cut and it came out really, really messed up. When i saw it i was so very, very upset because i was work on smoothing it for 2 hours and when i realized that my attempts of smoothing it was only making it worst. At least i somewhat got it to be smooth but it bothered me so much when it came out the way it did. I really, really want it to be smooth. Of course, my problem could be easily solved if i just find/buy a new knife but i haven't really found a knife that  fits comfortably in my hand so i can whittle for hours. Recently tried to fix this problem but really hard to find the perfect knife. I guess i'm just going to just order a beginner's whittling kit and pray that it's comfortable when i use it. o
Chipped, nasty cuts, ugly, ew, On the Floor of the Office Room. Personal photograph by author. 2014.

Entry #4: Update

What I have pretty much done since the beginning of all this was work on whittling projects and trying to work my way up to bigger projects. I was hoping that by the end of this project ( picture below ) that i would be able to start the final product. However, It pretty much depends on how well this project turns out. If it doesn't turn out clean then i will probably work on some more projects before i start on the final product. Some of the things i had finished was a sphere, a pyramid, and a snowman.

In the picture is a new project i started to work on, i was hoping to turn it into a wooden chain or an Indian head but its still a work in progress. The measurement on the side was suppose act as a guideline and tell me how deep i can cut into but i have been ignoring it. I need to start following it otherwise when i attempt cut again it'll look messy and gross. 

A Project in Progress, Whittling, In My Room. Personal photograph by author. 2014.

Entry #3: My Thoughts

Now that a month has past, I have to say that whittling is actually really hard to do because there have been so many times that i almost accidentally cut myself. The gloves help somewhat to protect you but, man, it is a pain when you try to carve a deeper cut because if your knife isn't sharp enough it pops out and it is unpredictable where the knife will go. Since the first entry, I've decided to make a totem pole as a final product and try to have people incorporate some of their ideas into it, like having them try to carve their favorite animal onto it. The hard part is finding a big enough log of tree to do this with. From my pitch i discovered that whittling is a stress reliever and it also helps take your mind off of other things. There have been many times i whittled for hours when i was upset and even if it seemed like i wasn't getting anywhere it was still fun. Hearing the other pitches didn't really give me much ideas but they were still very interesting and got me motivated to keep working on my project.

Hopefully my totem pole comes out this well.













"Haida Totem Pole." Flickr. Yahoo!, 7 May 2009. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.